Eastern Iowa Driver Rankings: August 12

Welcome to the Inside Track's Eastern Iowa Driver Rankings. Each week of the racing season, the Gazette's Jeremiah Davis will rank the area's top 10 drivers across all divisions.

Think the list should be different? Tweet him at @jeremiahdavis10, send him an email at jeremiah.davis@thegazette.com or leave a comment at The Inside Track by Jeremiah Davis Facebook page.

New this week: Mitch Morris, Colt Mather, Kyle Brown

Dropped out: Troy Bauer, Zach Less, Matt Ryan

Others considered:  Quinton Miller, Andy Nezworski, Jarrett Franzen, Nick Marolf, Jerry Luloff, Richie Gustin, Mark Schulte, Tyler Soppe, Brian Irvine, Benji Irvine, Jeff Aikey, Troy Cordes, Jenae Gustin, Ryan Dolan

RANK

+/-

NAME

CLASS

THOUGHTS

1

--

Justin Kay

Late Model

I'll be honest: it's damn hard to find new things to say about this guy, especially given how consistently he wins or runs very well. But very few drivers can run both IMCA Late Model and Modified on the same night and run well. Almost none can be that good when it's a Deery Bros and Hawkeye Dirt Tour doubleheader. He got a win in the Deery Bros race in Tipton and ran second in the Modified race. He also was second Sunday at Dubuque.

2

--

Nathan Ballard

Hobby Stock/

Hobby Stock/

Sportsmen

Ballard left Hawkeye Downs Speedway just a little frustrated. Sure, he got another Hobby Stock win and a pair of second-place finishes in Sportsmen (one feature was a makeup race). But coming up short in Sportsmen the way he did left him knowing he could've had three wins had things fallen into place. That's racing.

3

--

Tony Olson

Sport Mod

Olson hasn't had a winless weekend in a long, long time. But this weekend he suffered such a fate, finishing sixth at Marshalltown Speedway (his regular track, Davenport, was still off), was second at Independence Motor Speedway and got rained out at Vinton. It's a pretty great year when those stats for a weekend are disappointing.

4

--

Jeremiah Hurst

Modified

No wins for Hurst over the weekend, but solidly consistent. He was fourth at Farley Speedway, second at Jackson County Speedway in Maquoketa and fifth Sunday at Dubuque Speedway. Hurst stays out of trouble as well as anyone in an IMCA Modified, and that's half the battle to running well consistently.

5

+1

Damon Murty

Stock Car

Murty made the trip, like many, to Britt for the yearly three-day weekend of racing. His results got better as the weekend went on, finishing sixth on the Night of 1,000 stars (Friday), fifth on the Night of 10,000 stars (Saturday) and second on All-Star Night (Sunday). 

6

+1

JD Auringer

Modified

Auringer only got to race once over the weekend, as he got rained shortened in Independence, didn't go to Britt and didn't run the Hawkeye Dirt Tour race in Tipton. But he made that one race count, winning in Dubuque. Auringer's short track program is still running smoothly, setting him up for Supernationals.

7

-2

Tyler Droste

Late Model/

Late Model/

Modified

Like Kay, Droste has some experience running both Late Model and Modified. He ran both cars over the weekend, taking the Modified to Britt and Late Model to Independence and Tipton. He started on the second row for the Night of 10,000 stars, but couldn't stay there - finishing ninth. He was rain-shortened in Independence, then ran 10th in the Deery show Monday. 

8

NR

Mitch Morris

Modified

Morris clearly should've been on my radar before this week. He had as good a weekend as anyone could've, getting wins at Farley Speedway and Jackson County Speedway in Maquoketa. Then he ran a very strong third at the Hawkeye Dirt Tour race in Tipton after winning his heat. 

9

NR

Kyle Brown

Modified

Brown ran four races over the weekend, didn't get a win and had one finish outside the top 15. But he's in the rankings for how consistently well he ran against top competition. He was 17th in Britt for the Night of 1,000 stars, but bounced back for fourth in the Night of 10,000 stars and was third on All-Star night. Then he ran seventh after coming through a B-main in the Hawkeye Dirt Tour race in Tipton.

10

NR

Colt Mather

Modified

Mather isn't an Eastern Iowa guy by residence - he lives in Webster - but he races over this way often enough, he too should've been on my radar sooner. He's got several wins in West Liberty this season, and got his first Hawkeye Dirt Tour win in Tipton on Tuesday. He also got a win at his regular track at Osky.

Previous: April 29; May 6; May 13; May 20; May 27; June 3; June 10; June 17; June 24; July 1; July 8; July 15; July 22; July 29; Aug. 5

l Comments: (319) 368-8884; jeremiah.davis@thegazette.com